Dick Advocaat appointed Sunderland manager

Advocaat travelled to Sunderland on Monday evening to discuss replacing Poyet as the club's manager after the Uruguayan was fired following a 4-0 defeat to relegation rivals Aston Villa at the weekend.

The well-travelled Dutchman, who has had two stints in charge of his national side and spent four years at Rangers, was identified as the man to lead a late charge against relegation following Poyet's dismissal by owner Ellis Short.

The 67-year-old has only nine games to keep Sunderland in the division, with the club currently in 17th place, one point ahead of Burnley. His first game comes away to West Ham on Saturday.

Advocaat has been given a contract until the end of the season.

“Sunderland is a big club and I am very much looking forward to the challenge ahead," Advocaat told the club's official website. "We must now concentrate on Saturday as a priority and I can’t wait to get started.”

Sam Allardyce had also been linked with the Sunderland position but Short has opted for a man with vast experience of over 30 years in management, across different continents and with both international and club teams.

Advocaat first made his name in his native Netherlands, eventually becoming PSV Eindhoven boss in 1994. From there, having won the Eredivisie title in 1996-97, he moved to Rangers, claiming two league titles, two Scottish Cups and the Scottish League Cup in a four-year spell.

His only other club trophies came at Zenit St Petersburg between 2006 and 2009 as he claimed a league title and memorably won the UEFA Cup in 2008, beating Rangers in the final. However, his CV also includes spells as manager of Netherlands, South Korea and Russia at Euro 2004, the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 respectively, as well as United Arab Emirates, Russia, Belgium and Serbia.

Short told the club's website: “Dick has an incredible CV and vast experience of managing at the very highest level. We have one aim only now - to climb the table and everyone is fully focused on the task ahead of us.”

Advocaat is joined at Sunderland by first-team coach Zeljko Petrovic and goalkeeping coach Adrian Tucker.

It seems a bit of a left-field appointment, not to mention a rapid one given Poyet was only sacked less than 24 hours ago. How and why did Sunderland decide that Advocaat was the man to steer them clear of danger? Actually, the answer is rather simple.

Sunderland sporting director Lee Congerton, who is reported to have clashed with Poyet and advocated his removal, worked at Hamburg under previous Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen, and was given a glowing reference from the Dane, who worked alongside Advocaat at PSV Eindhoven.

Poyet had to go, there is no question of that, and while Advocaat is by no means a cert to keep Sunderland up, this is an encouraging appointment by Short, who for too long has put his trust in fallow, inexperienced and ultimately flawed individuals. Paolo Di Canio and Poyet were both terrible appointments, while it's probably best not to mention former director of football Roberto De Fanti at all.

At least Advoccat has a huge amount of experience which he can bring to bear. The only thing you can really ask of a managerial change is that a club's prospects look better for having made it. And with the experienced Dutchman at the helm that is certainly the case. The man has managed in three major tournaments and has a coaching career lasting 30 years. The contrast with Poyet and Di Canio is glaring.